Reality Check.

9 hours ago, VaniCCRN said:

As if it wasn’t enough, the negative comments about NPs are rather excessive, particularly from Reddit groups and forums like StudentDoctor, where medical students, resident physicians, and even attending physicians rant and complain about “mid-level” scope creeping. They post horror stories of misdiagnosed aneurysm, peritonitis, and ectopic pregnancies. I’ve even seen one Reddit user that devotes his entire account to creating fictional tales of an NP, he portrays the NP in a satirical and sarcastic manner, magnifying their medical mistakes.

This is more reflective of them than any nurse. Can you say, "Projection"? There isn't a physician on the planet who hasn't missed a serious diagnosis: search and sign up for the excellent Med Mal Insights blog online (they also print submissions from nurses!). God knows there's plenty of opportunities to see mocking of med students, residents, and "even attendings" online and on TV/video.

"Mid-level" is a pejorative term. For some reason these folks like PAs better than NPs, even though in many states NPs can practice independently and PAs never can. Well, wups, maybe that's why. YOu don't need to pay any more attention to that, or their opinion, than you do to the jerk who says "Only a nurse, only follows MD orders."

You know more than you think, you will learn more as you practice (just like they do), and you will be more present for your patients than they ever will. That's why you do what you're doing, isn't it? Research shows you'll have higher pt satisfaction, fewer hospital readmits, and lower costs than physicians (and that's the other big threat: follow the money) for the bulk of family practice/PCP case load: COPD, CHF, DM, and the like. Chill out. YOu can do this.

I wouldn't check the Reddit anymore.

Consider going part-time for the time of Master's program. You will most likely have to pay more for health insurance compared to full time, but it's doable.

Best of luck! If being a provider is what you always wanted, with enough determination, you will get there.

I wanted to chime in on a few things here because I think it’s important for you abs your socialization into a new role. 
 

1. I think it is important to acknowledge from the beginning that you are moving from a place where you have developed competency and expertise through years of work experience into a role where you will be starting fresh. Being an expert nurse only qualifies you to be a novice NP. There is no skipping steps, you need to rebuild that competency and expertise with experience in practice. I often see NP students that are experienced RNs putting far too much pressure on themselves to know everything from the start. It’s OK to be a student again and simply learn. There is a mantra of fake-it until-you-make-it in NP school; I make students dump that at the door because it creates stress and it ruins your learning experience in the clinical setting for sure. 

2. We all make mistakes. We all misdiagnose. Some doctors enjoy pointing out when NPs do this but the truth is, if they are in practice, they’ve made the same errors. If they don’t think they have, they not only aren’t good providers they are dangerous ones. Self-reflecting practice is the hallmark of a good provider; it can be anxiety producing for students/novice providers because it means we actively look for our mistakes, but overtime the anxiety goes away and we are left with being able to accept our mistakes and grow from them. Remember there are lots of illnesses that you will come across as a PCP that have an average time-to-diagnosis of 5-10-15 years! 
 

3. Primary care is far too broad to know everything; there isn’t a provider on the planet that knows it all in-depth. I tell patients frequently “ I don’t know”; the art of medicine is being able to create a plan from that! The MOST important thing a PCP can do, and it’s simple, is identify normal from abnormal. If you can do this simple thing (and the longer you practice the less simple it gets) you will have a solid foundation to grow on.

4. I may take some flack here but I am a firm believer that you are making an investment in yourself in a new career; working FT and doing NP student part time is not the ideal way to build a strong foundation. Would you rather see a PCP that  did their education and training as their second priority? On the flip side, would you want an RN taking care of you that was focused on trying to learn something different? It’s a big investment of your money and time, make the most of it.